Subject: Please identify Geographic location of the bug: Tracy, California Date: 08/09/2018 Time: 02:16 AM EDT Your letter to the bugman: Could you please identify this insect. I found a few (~5) in my house over a few days this summer at night around my lights. They are 1/4-3/8 inch long How you want your letter signed: Sfigurac

Subject: Swarming around lights inside Geographic location of the bug: California’s Central Coast Date: 08/06/2018 Time: 01:54 AM EDT Your letter to the bugman: For the last several days a few of these bugs have been showing up inside our house. This evening, a huge group was swarming every light we had on. Can you tell me what this is? We have screens on all of our windows, so I’m concerned about how they are getting in. Appreciate your help if you can share any info. Thanks! How you want your letter signed: Amy

Webspinner

Dear Amy, This is a benign Webspinner in the insect order Embiidina, and you have already discovered what BugGuide remarks: “winged males of some species come to lights.” BugGuide also notes: “rapid runners, often run backwards; live in colonies (in galleries of spun silk) and exhibit limited maternal care for eggs and young.” We don’t provide extermination advice, but you can try dimming the lights, keeping lamps away from windows and checking the screens for access points.

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Subject: Help identify Geographic location of the bug: Paso Robles Date: 08/01/2018 Time: 09:38 AM EDT Your letter to the bugman: Hi Bugman, My friend has these at her house. Is this a termite? How you want your letter signed: Prisha

Webspinner

Dear Prisha, Though it resembles a winged Termite alate, this is actually a benign Webspinner in the order Embiidina. We had one reader submit a Webspinner Dynasty inquiry after she allowed them to cohabitate in her bathroom.

Subject: Long ant like bug Geographic location of the bug: Phoenix, Arizona Date: 07/09/2018 Time: 12:52 AM EDT Your letter to the bugman: I found two of these in my kitchen, and can’t find a match anywhere. The closest i found was a snakefly larva, but it didn’t match completely How you want your letter signed: James

Webspinners

Dear Dave, These are benign Webspinners in the insect order Embiidina, and according to BugGuide: “slender, usually brownish insects that may have wings (males) or be wingless (some males and all females); body of male flattened; body of female and immature more cylindrical; tarsi 3-segmented; basal segment of front tarsus greatly enlarged for producing silk from hollow hairs issuing on the basal and middle segments; cerci 2-segmented (but left cercus of some males 1-segmented).” You might enjoy our Webspinner Dynasty posting.

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Subject: Flying Insect Geographic location of the bug: Phoenix, AZ Date: 10/06/2017 Time: 03:44 PM EDT There’s a bug that likes to come through my screens at night – mostly in the monsoon/late summer/early fall season. They like light and seem to be harmless and they have landed on me before with no problems. They are usually only one or max two that are inside at any given time. They are pretty small. I would say somewhere between a small black ant and small earwig size. They fly and have translucent/white wings that lie flat, folded over one another the length of their body. The length of the wings seems to line right up with the end of their bodies. They have little “things” coming off their ends that someone told me meant they were earwigs. I have seen flying earwigs before and the earwigs we have here don’t look like this guy. They don’t behave, look or smell the same at all (these guys don’t smell and I think earwigs stink). How you want your letter signed: Buggy-Bug-Bug

Webspinner

Dear Buggy-Bug-Bug, This looks to us like a Webspinner in the insect order Embiidina based on this BugGuide image. According to BugGuide: “rapid runners, often run backwards; live in colonies (in galleries of spun silk) and exhibit limited maternal care for eggs and young; winged males of some species come to lights.”

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Subject: The night stalker Geographic location of the bug: San Diego, California Date: 09/02/2017 Time: 01:24 PM EDT Dear Mr. Bugman, it has been very hot here in San Diego, up to 100 degrees F. last night I encountered this little guy crawling on the bathroom wall inside my home. It is about 3/8″ long, 1/2″ if you include the antennae. My guess is that it is either a drywood or dampwood termite swarmer. However, all of the photos I’ve seen online depict termites having wings that are much longer than their bodies. Also, supposedly the swarmers drop their wings upon landing, this little guy has his still intact. Lastly, I saw only one, not a “swarm.” Mr Bugman, is it time for me to call out an exterminator, or is this night stalker a termite imposter? How you want your letter signed: Marc fom San Diego

Webspinner

Dear Marc, There is no need to call an exterminator. This is NOT a Termite. This is a Webspinner in the insect order Embiidina, as you can verify by comparing your image to this BugGuide image. According to BugGuide, they feed on: “dead plant material plus lichens and mosses found around their galleries” and they are “rapid runners, often run backwards; live in colonies (in galleries of spun silk) and exhibit limited maternal care for eggs and young; winged males of some species come to lights.” You may enjoy our Webspinner Dynasty posting.

Thank you for responding to my identification request. I am very happy to learn that it is not a termite. Marc